Zatiel kept talking with Severian for a long time. The Neo-Demon could tell the Shadow Frog's annoyance, but he couldn't care less and took advantage of the fact he had to maintain his cover and could not dismiss him.
It was only after one hundred minutes of non-stop eye contact that Zatiel finally let the conversation finish. In the end, they made a deal and promised to do their best in case one of them needed the other's help, but they were just empty words.
'Almost double the time that I needed to establish the connection with Kita. If he had not been hiding his power, it would have been incredibly difficult to maintain eye contact for that long.' Zatiel looked at the Devil Marquess above him after handling the most significant threat between the Devil Counts.
If he could use Beyond Reality with her, then the Blood Fortress' mission would be much easier.
Unfortunately, even if Zatiel could establish a conversation with her, he would have to maintain uninterrupted eye contact for more than ten hours.
Since establishing a connection with the Devil Marquess was not feasible, he went after the other Devil Counts.
Zatiel could not just force the conversation with them as he did with the Shadow Frog, and there were many distractions. The good news is that he had a lot of time, and no one was going anywhere.
Less than a week after Zatiel and Kita reached this place, all the missing Devil Lords arrived. Both parties had ten Devil Counts and three Devil Marquises.
The new Marquises in Zatiel's team was a man that had the appearance of a giant worm with spider legs and eyes all over his body and an individual made of green fire that appeared to have no gender.
With only a few days until the Blood Fortress Incursion started, the Rank 4 Devils began to arrive. Those devils knew it would be suicide to reach this place before the Devil Lords of their team came since their enemies would have killed them if they see them alone.
After the one hundred Rank 4 Devils appeared, the Devil Lords began to split them between themselves. Every Devil Marquess chose fifteen, leaving the fifty-five remaining for the Devil Counts.
Five Devil Counts would have six Rank 4 Devils beneath them, while the rest would only get five.
The strongest Devil Counts would be the ones with an additional soldier and choose first, allowing them to pick the best Rank 4 Devils.
Zatiel chose third since "Kenner" strength was beneath the Hell Lion and Fiend Dragonborn.
The Rank 4 Devils had no vote regarding who they would be following in this mission. Although the ones picked by Zatiel did not show it, they were all cursing their luck.
Those devils had done their homework before this mission and got information about the Devil Lords they would be serving. Kenner had a massive red flag on him due to his sadistic nature and the fact he liked to see teammates kill each other.
Zatiel's Mind Force allowed him to feel those Rank 4 Devils' emotions, but that did not bother him.
'With Kenner, at least some of you would have made it alive, but with me, none will see Baator again for a long time.' The Neo-Demon picked the six devils with the most powerful soul force and no longer looked at them.
When the day of the mission finally arrived, space above both teams broke at the same time, and two individuals appeared.
They released no aura at all, and there was no fluctuation of soul force or energy in them, but the moment they showed up, everybody kneeled.
The Devil Duke, known as Krior, had a humanoid appearance. His skin was charred, and red light could be seen coming from inside his chest. He was less than a meter tall, but all the Devil Lords and Rank 4 Devils showed a terrified expression the moment he appeared.
Zatiel also showed fear in his face, but his focus was on the other team's Devil Duke.
'He is a Rank 6 Pit Fiend. If I could get a piece of his soul or some life force, then there is a chance I could evolve my sword in a Rank 6 Artifact. Unfortunately, a Devil Marquess is already more than I can handle.' Zatiel focused once again on Duke Krior, just in time to see this one releasing the full power of his consciousness.
The Pit Fiend did the same, and the power they released to the outside was so great, they generated an earthquake that could cover half a continent.
The Devil Lords felt tremendous pressure over their bodies, and the Rank 4 Devils felt nauseous due to the raging and poisonous energies that covered the sky.
Both Devil Dukes seized control over the space in front of them in a second.
The Pit Fiend created giant chains that pierced the edges of a space crack and expanded it.
Duke Krior, on the other hand, spit a ball of green fire that entered a space crack and began to form a gateway into the dimension where the fortress resided.
The portals were reinforced with the Dukes' laws, allowing easy passage to Rank 5 life forms and beneath.
"The one who brings me the Blood Duke's body refinement technique can keep the resources he obtained. The rest can only remain with five percent." Duke Krior announced that before closing his eyes.
The devils will be risking their lives, entering a Devil Duke's fortress that must be full of traps and fight against an enemy force, and yet they would obtain less than a tenth of what they manage to collect. That was bullying, and precisely the way leaders treated their subordinates in Baator.
That behavior could incite resentment in your underlings, and that was one of the many reasons devils would rather see the people beneath them die rather than see them grow stronger.
Both teams went through the portal created by their Devil Dukes and found themselves inside the dimension that contained the Blood Fortress.
They immediately felt how their energies were harder to move, and a foreign force suppressed their consciousnesses. The alterations in this place would diminish the might of their spells and make scanning harder.
Zatiel also felt those drawbacks but was happy when he noticed how his Mind Force was not affected.
Both teams looked at each other after reaching the dimension. Although killing intent overflowed their bodies, it was not the time to fight yet.
Zatiel and the devils beneath Duke Krior followed the Blood Fortress' border and took the left side, while the team under the Pit Fiend took the right side.
The Devil Lords began to split apart, and each one chose a separate entrance. The fortress was almost the size of a continent, so they all were pretty far apart.
They did this to avoid fights at the beginning of the mission. Each group would start on the fortress's outer layer and slowly make their way to the center, where the most valuable resources and information should reside.
While every group immediately entered the fortress, Zatiel's group remained at the gate.
The Neo-Demon looked at the Rank 4 Devils, and his right eye glowed as he forcefully implanted a seed of Mind Force in the head of every one of them.
The devils were too weak, and they could not fight back against the power of the Neo-Demon. They were all furious when that happened, but there was nothing they could do since even working together, the best they could achieve was to equal a weak Rank 5 life form.
"Begin to explore the outer layer. I will join you after I finish with something. The thing I implanted in your heads will allow me to see all you do." The Neo-Demon said nothing more before vanishing beneath the ground.
Zatiel's words only made the wrath in the Rank 4 Devils grow. He left them on their own, and even if they managed to find anything valuable, they were sure the Devil Lord would take it from them.
They could not ignore the order Zatiel gave them since that would mean death, so they entered the fortress.
Once he was deep underground and was sure no one was looking at him, Zatiel began preparing to seal a new star in his body.
